More on Halo: Reach

[Ashoten]

I find it funny that Mr. Croshaw feels the need to backpedle on his opinion here. Guess he doesnt want his record of hating Halo games marred by any inconsistancy. To be honest I didnt get the impressionhe liked the game in his review, just that he hated it less then previous Halo games.

 

[John Horn]

Primer: Criticism of a game's vices or virtues are financially unbiased. That is, the sales figures of a game should not be a consideration when dissecting it. Plenty of reasons for good sales figures that are irrespective of virtue. Things like, good marketing, high brand awareness or loyalty, etc.

meh. if its not broken, don't fix it. I think thats what bungie were thinking when they make halo games

If it ain't broken, don't fix it. I love repeating the Mantra of Mediocrity. This kind of argument is as convincing as this:
Telling me that I should refrain from excising an unappealing birth mark from my buttocks, because it's not malignant.

If every developer thought like that, there wouldn't be any progress or originality. Thankfully, we have some braver developers who are willing to take risks for greater returns. The pioneering spirit is still alive (barely) in some of the big studios. But it is in the Independent scene that this spirit is the strongest of all. This is what always happens. Studios grow fat and slothful. Their publishers get so rich that they (and their shareholders) become afraid of losing it all. So they stop taking risks, and start milking the udder of predictability. Fast forward 10-15 years, the franchise dies out in a pathetic anticlimax - where noone cares to give it a thought either way. I'm thinking of you Command & Conquer, just barely.

Then an "independent" studio comes along and actually tries something fresh and new - has great success. Fastforward 10-15 years, perhaps that same studio becomes just as slothful and cowardly as the entrenched big boys of last generation?

Rinse and repeat.

 

[Andrew Roszak]

I'll be honest, I expected him to dislike the game. And I know how much he hates "modern" shooters. Here's the one question I took away from the review, though: Why all the hate about aiming down sights? Sure, retro games didn't have it and new ones do, but it makes perfectly good sense for someone trying to kill everyone he sees with a firearm to actually aim with it. makes it more accurate, y'see.

I think every game with a gun should allow you to LDS for better accuracy. This doesn't mean I like the MW2 system where doing such gets you 100% accuracy with next to no kick, but still. Looking through a weapon's sights makes you more accurate than hip-firing it every single time. So why the hate, Yahtzee?

 

[li-ion]

The shirt is not the problem, it's all the pizza I ate lately...

 

[Netrigan]

I'll be honest, I expected him to dislike the game. And I know how much he hates "modern" shooters. Here's the one question I took away from the review, though: Why all the hate about aiming down sights? Sure, retro games didn't have it and new ones do, but it makes perfectly good sense for someone trying to kill everyone he sees with a firearm to actually aim with it. makes it more accurate, y'see.

I think every game with a gun should allow you to LDS for better accuracy. This doesn't mean I like the MW2 system where doing such gets you 100% accuracy with next to no kick, but still. Looking through a weapon's sights makes you more accurate than hip-firing it every single time. So why the hate, Yahtzee?

Aiming down the sights works best in "realistic" shooters, which tend to have more of an emphasis on cover. One of the first games I remember seeing it in was the original Call Of Duty and it was a perfect fit. But on the far side are the fast-paced shooters like Serious Sam, Duke Nukem, and the original Doom; pure run-and-gun games where aiming down the sights would slow down the frantic pace.

But I think even those style games will be getting it for one reason... console aiming isn't the most precise thing in the world. But I would hope it would be a system about fine-tuning your aim (by slowing up the cursor movement) and not because shooting from the hip is inherently less accurate. That way, a player would only resort to aiming down the sights when he's trying to pull off a tough shot and not because the game is forcing him to because of different hit ratios.

 

[thetragicclown]

It was hilarious how all the Halo fanboys clutched at any comments in the review that weren't obviously hateful and held them up as "proof" that Reach is "te bestest gaem evar coz even Yahtzee lykes it!!1" Now they accuse him of backpeddling, or of being in some hypothetical Halo "closet", just for clarifying that not-hating a game isn't the same as loving it.

I really don't get this fanaticism people have for the Halo series. It's like a mad blend of Confirmation Bias and Stockholm Syndrome.

 

[Trilbi]

I have to say I pretty much agree with the review, especially the part about not reviewing multiplayer because a game has to be able to stand up on the singleplayer aspect nonetheless. Anyone who thinks otherwise can go eat a flaming porcupine.

 

[phantasmalWordsmith]

not

Primer: Criticism of a game's vices or virtues are financially unbiased. That is, the sales figures of a game should not be a consideration when dissecting it. Plenty of reasons for good sales figures that are irrespective of virtue. Things like, good marketing, high brand awareness or loyalty, etc.

meh. if its not broken, don't fix it. I think thats what bungie were thinking when they make halo games

If it ain't broken, don't fix it. I love repeating the Mantra of Mediocrity. This kind of argument is as convincing as this:
Telling me that I should refrain from excising an unappealing birth mark from my buttocks, because it's not malignant.

If every developer thought like that, there wouldn't be any progress or originality. Thankfully, we have some braver developers who are willing to take risks for greater returns. The pioneering spirit is still alive (barely) in some of the big studios. But it is in the Independent scene that this spirit is the strongest of all. This is what always happens. Studios grow fat and slothful. Their publishers get so rich that they (and their shareholders) become afraid of losing it all. So they stop taking risks, and start milking the udder of predictability. Fast forward 10-15 years, the franchise dies out in a pathetic anticlimax - where noone cares to give it a thought either way. I'm thinking of you Command & Conquer, just barely.

Then an "independent" studio comes along and actually tries something fresh and new - has great success. Fastforward 10-15 years, perhaps that same studio becomes just as slothful and cowardly as the entrenched big boys of last generation?

Rinse and repeat.

Not quite what I meant. I was leaning more towards what yahtzee said about the gameplay being repetitive.

 

[Slayze]

My good sir, I've gotten many compliments upon my wearing this shirt! I resent your latest statement thoroughly!

 

[shadow skill]

I wouldn't expect elite soldiers that go through the augmentation process to even wear the Mjollnir armor to be the type to spend time questioning the orders of their superiors given the circumstances...Even if they were not effectively brainwashed. It really is completely stupid to demand that every character in every game be "relatable" as that is a cop-out and keeps people from writing characters that do not act the way we might. It really isn't a bad thing that these professional soldiers generally behave like professionals.

The real problem with this game was that all of the deaths felt pointless because these people had to die in order to maintain the cannon. This particular story didn't have enough in it to be worth telling at all. The first thing that came out of my mouth during the last scene of your death was "well that was stupid." Why would the Covenant even bother after Pillar of Autumn left the system? Reach was worthless by that point, they would have known that all the data regarding Halo was gone after you rescue Hasley and nuke the place. But oh wait I forgot they had to make sure they killed you just for the fuck of it.

This game gets major points for not having the Flood or the Gravemind in it though. The flood really was a moronic addition to the universe that felt like it was inserted because the creators couldn't make a confederation of religious fanatics scary/bad-ass enough.

 

[Jezzascmezza]

For your information, Yahtzee, I'm not actually wearing a shirt...

 

[Reklisniss]

Actually Halsley isn't Jorge's mother. When he calls her mom it's because she is like a mother to him. All of the spartans were basically orphans. Getting that out of the way, I totally agree. When they included that in the scene, I thought that it would go somewhere. Sadly, it didn't. There were so many parts to this that raise questions.

Frankly Kat's death wasn't noble, she was running and just got picked off. All in all I definitely had the same feeling when I was watching the cutscenes. These guys were willing to die, and made such a big deal out of wanting to know what they were protecting. None of the characters left at this point seemed to care one way or the other. Anytime I am watching a cutscene and think, "NO, that's not what I would do/say!" it pulls me out of that immersion.

 

[darkerthought7]

Once again, Yahtzee is preaching to the choir from my perspective. Reach was just not that great of a game. They had a chance of making the story refreshing and new and shiny (and possibly MAKE SENSE). Instead, they just used a different time period to abuse the same mechanics ad nauseum. The Halo series was dead from day one because the story is convoluted and nonsensical. The shooting's okay, but it's really not something to write home about. Honestly, if I'm playing a shooter, I'd like to get riled up about dying because I'm, you know, ROLEPLAYING as opposed to being annoyed that I have to start the section over. It works for what it is: something to pass the time from cradle to the grave. It's not a life-changing experience, honestly.

 

[Cuppa Tetleys]

I'm happy with Yahtzee's opinion on Reach even though the only thing I agree with him on is the story. I'm fascinated that there are people who get really into the Halo storyline; Halo was my first experience of an fps, so I enjoy its familiarity and the fact I get to shoot aliens with rocket launchers, so I just never got into the story. Though when I tried, I realised (the spell-checker corrects me on that word, but I fight for British integrity! We made this language and I'll be if I have change all my s's to z's due to phonetic confusion!) that the plot itself was extremely bland and predictable, and the characters were cliches, mounted upon cliches (watch the first episode of Moviebob's The Big Picture if you want evidence of that, Bungie). So for me, Halo's always been about the gameplay, but because it was my first experience of the genre, anything else seems weird to me. I'm sure the reason Yahtzee dislikes Halo is cos he's a long time PC gamer spoiled by more imaginative shooters of his time. I still respect his opinion, even if it differs from mine.

 

[Johnny Cain]

The gunplay was enjoyable enough for me to get it and play it through.
But the characters are non-existant and their behaviour? They do some of the single stupidest things I've ever witnessed in a game.

For example. A giant EMP bubble is dead ahead as you ride in a helicopter.
Rather than, I don't know, LAND? The pilot follows a Spartan's advice to fly straight into it.
The screen goes black.
Vision comes back in the form of a cutscene.
What's happened?
OH! We've lost all power. WHO SAW THAT COMING you massive twat.

I was un-sympathetic when said pilots died in the ensuing crash. It was at the point where we weren't getting shot at and there was a HUGE PLAIN OF FLAT LAND straight down. We could have landed the helicopter, or at least taxied about three feet off the ground so when power was lost we just flumped harmlessly onto the sand.

 

[jackpipsam]

Reach owns!

 

[DarthYam]

i partially agree; yes there should have been more info for first timers, but the thing is that real soldiers are trained to be willing to put their lives on the line. They might complain, but by and large most soldiers are able to accept that if their time comes, it's come. Not to mention that only three technically sacrifice themselves. One guy leaves with the scientist and may still be living, one of them gets killed by a sniper, and the third gets impaled from behind. The three who do sacrifice themselves are highly trained soldiers, which kind of neccessitates being willing to do high risk jobs and, if possible, kill themselves.

 

[Tyrany42]

Yahtzee did you actually READ that "ancillary media", because it also explains away the floaty movement feel and the first half of the book makes the whole "mum" thing completely false. Next time make use of all the facts there, just taking the ones that support your argument shows narrow-mindedness.
As for the article, I agree with you about Reach's campaign. However, the gameplay has evolved over the years, it's just that for Reach they went back to halo 1's formula with some refinements from the other games. And what is it with you and saying that every game needs a boss fight? And did you even look at Firefight? Or Forge?
Honestly though, you didn't need to write an article about this. Everyone knows how you feel about Halo (you made it abundantly clear in the Turok review) so we all know you're just trying to get traffic figures and to make us to act like little gibbering morons in the forums.

I hold the belief that professional critics should look at everything a game has to offer. That's why I don't consider Yahtzee a professional critic in the slightest. He's just an entertainer who drops constant amusing metaphors for laughs. You know the Angry Video Game Nerd? I love his videos because he never pretends to be professional by "making games better". He's there for cuss-ridden nostalgia.
Another thing is Painkiller. Yahtzee adored Painkiller because it was a simple shooter, story and characters didn't matter to him then. But now that he's reviewing Halo all of a sudden he despises simple shooters. I stopped taking hypocrites seriously a while ago.
As a side note, I tried Painkiller, and was bored out of my skull. Sure, I love mowing down enemies, but I also like to have an objective and some direction where to go. An occasional vehicle segment to add variety wouldn't hurt, either.

 

[noahpocalypse]

Hey! I don't look fat in this! My mommy said so!